Album of the month – CIVILIAN

'Civilian' by 'boy kill boy' is my Album of the month for August. So what or rather who do they sound like I hear you ask? Well, their sound is by no means new or different, kind of a slightly more upbeat 'Interpol' meets 'Arcade fire' cross the 'Editors' with the catchy melody of say a band, like 'The Strokes' or 'Muse'? Yup, makes a lot of sense doesn't it.

So, where was I? Oh yes, track 2 'On & On' is quite simply…brilliant. Teetering perhaps a little too close to the 'Editors' at first, but folks, it steadily builds up and moves away to a chorus that just makes you want to stop whatever it is that you're doing and frikken sing along with your jaw clenched. It really is excellent, so hard to put into words or describe with my limited vocabulary and knowledge of musical instruments, but there's a piano in there somewhere and it's being tapped away at furiously! Accompanied by a set of drums being clattered at high speed and a plethora of shrill guitars being manipulated, jerkingly but then full-on and fluid as it breaks into the chorus.

The rest of the album also delivers, in fact I'm listening to it right now and enjoying it even more than I was earlier. I also need to mention that this is by no means a one track album. 'Ivy Parker' is another cracker. I won't even try describe it, it's slower but in no way less powerful. It's absolute class, anthemic(?). And then there's 'Suzie', 'Six Minutes', 'Civil Sin' and more.

It has to be said, their were a number of worthy contenders for August's 'Album of the month'. 'Razorlight' and their highly anticipated follow-up album self-titled 'Razorlight' is a good buy. 'The Zutons' also delivered something special in the form of their follow-up album 'Tired of hanging around' and last but not least, 'Snow Patrol' who perhaps ran away with the best single of the month, 'Chasing cars' came pretty close with their 3rd album 'Eyes open' but it just wasn't consistent enough to pip boy kill boy's 'CIVILIAN' to the post.

Not very modest I know…

I'm sorry but I couldn't resist putting this photo up, so I added a few others of our ski/snowboard trip to Italy in January.

Oxford for the day…

On Saturday, Robyn and I went up to Oxford to see Brett, Chenay, Sophie and Amber one last time before they head back to the States on Thursday. Oxford is about 80 miles (128km) North-west of London and only about an hour-and-a-half trip on the Oxford tube (which is actually a bus not a tube) which leaves from Victoria.

We arrived around lunch time and strolled through the bustling city centre, passed a few of the colleges (Trinity, Magdalen) down the main high-street and through the botanical gardens to possibly the most impressive Colleges of them all, Christchurch. Oxford is definitely one of the prettiest, most photogenic towns I've had the pleasure of visiting in England. Not that I've been too many, but still. The weather was a bit iffy, as you no doubt will have noticed in the photo's, so we decided to head somewhere cosy and dry for a quiet pub lunch. However, not before stopping for a quick monkeying around session in the kids park! Some of you may remember seeing photo's of Robyn and I playing silly buggers in a park last year in Oxford, well we went to that very same park again and dominated all the rides…again!(Coincidentally, the hotel where Brett, Chenay and the kids were staying, was opposite the B&B where Robyn and I stayed last year).

Oxford has so many really classic English pubs, it really is quite difficult to decide where to go. The Isis, The Trout, The Head of the River and the list goes on. So after much discussion we went to 'The Bear and Ragged Staff'(no jokes) but ended up only having a pint there because their kitchen was closed. Wollies, great pub though. So The Fox it was. After a really good catch up and some tasty food the time had come for us to say our goodbyes and make our way back to London, and that was that.

Thanks for a top day guys.

Shuz

August Supper Club – The Blue Elephant

Being my birthday month and all, it seemed quite fitting that I should have to organise this months Supper Club. Each month, through random selection, one of us gets to organise where the group will dine. In the past, we've mixed it up in Brick lane with an Indian, gone Turkish in Oxford street, eaten Polish in Kensington, Italian in Wandsworth, Japanese in Chelsea, Pizza in Covent Garden and had a pretty average meal in Piccadilly. Who says you need a British passport to get around the world?

Anyway, as I was saying earlier, I had to organise Supper Club this month, so we ended up going to The Blue Elephant in Fulham. Now The Blue Elephant has been rated in Londons Top 10 restaurants for quite some time now and once you've gone there it's very easy to understand why. As you walk through the main entrance, the chaos of Fulham High Street dissappears quickly behind you, and thank the pope for that because Fulham high street is a bustling, busy and strangely frustrating part of town at the best of times. Instantly you feel as if you could actually be IN Thailand. The décor is that convincing. Shrubbery, vines and foliage hang and burst out from every conceivable cranny to create a very convincing Thai jungle scene. It's as if you've by mistake stepped onto the set of 'Missing in Action' but without the bloodshed, gunfire and of course Chuck Norris. The faint trickle of water and soft ambient music eases the senses, it's kind of darkish, candle-lit and surprisingly fresh and cool. The restaurant is 'naturally' bissected by a small stream (The River Kwai?) and dotted with little ponds fulled with Koi fish. Navigating your way round there can be a little tricky but it's great fun.

The food was excellent, I had a 'Samui Crab' starter (A mixture of chicken and crab served in the shell of a crab) and a super hot 'Thai Green Chicken curry' which had an incredibly high Chicken count. Robyn also had the Samui Crab starter but went for a Chicken stir-fry main. Overall everyone seemed very happy with their meals.

It has to be said though that The Blue Elephant is not your average, everyday restaurant. It should be reserved only for special ocassions. We were fortunate enough to eat off a pretty well priced set-menu (thanks to Top-table) but if you wanted to dine there normally, your meal and drinks would cost in the neighbourhood of £50, probably more. Dave reckoned it would be worth it just for the 'cute' Thai waitresses. Whichever way you look at it I reckon it would be worth every cent…

Shuz

Royal Ascot - 24th June 2006

Posh frocks, hats, drinks, a few horses, a few more drinks....

Standing around waiting to board the coach to Ascot, sheepishly sipping my first beer of the day, I looked at my watch - 09:32 am; and thats when I thought to myself – sheesh, this is going to be one heck of a day. And was it ever.

It was so well organised. Like clockwork, Swiss clockwork. A friend of a friend named 'Anne' played way out of her boots to organise two coaches to cart about 60 of us to Ascot and back. Gone were the fears of having a nightmare trip back to London on the trains after a day of drinking, praying you don't pass out only to wake up in Brighton.

After a pleasant trip on what had slowly become a brilliantly sunny day (depsite predicitons of rain) we made our way westwards, passed Heathrow towards Berkshire and the Ascot Racecourse. Upon arrival we all sat together and had one almighty picnic. Blankets unravelled everywhere like great sails on an old pirate ship. The sound of Champagne bottles simultaneously bursting open echoed through the air. Cans of beer and cider fizzed open, the smell of Pims and lemonade filled my nostrils. I looked for shade, some respite for my now burning bald head; drat, I had forgotten to pack sunscreen…

Somewhat mellow and chomping at the proverbial bit we made our way up towards the main (newly refurbished) grandstand. The first race (of only 6?) kicked off at 13h30. This is what it was really all about. Time check – 13h40 – pick up the pace. It was hot. Dammit why was I wearing a black suit?

What happened from then on becomes slightly blurry. Racecards were studied, bets were placed, jockeys examined, their jackets scrutinised, 'Intrepid Jack', 'Amadeus Wolf', outsiders, trifectas, sweeps, looking for connections, something, anything to go on, but nothing. Five races later it was all over and I hadn't made a cent. In fact I was down. Literally and figuritively. You see, for me horse-racing is too much about luck, the roll of a dice, a lottery ticket. There are so many variables that it almost becomes painful. And yet, that feeling you get when your horse runs passed, second from the back, is so strangely unique. Blind hope is what it is. It's the very opposite of the feeling people who live on the San Andreas fault line experience. 'It'll never happen to me'. 'It's going to happen to me'. Well it didn't happen to me and I still had fun.

Once the final race was over, in true British style we were herded like cattle back towards our Coach, and in no time we were on our way back to South-west London and the after party that awaited. In closing, some of you may be wondering how the Durban July compares to Ascot. Well it squares up pretty well, personally I think the July is just as good. For starters there are way more races (14?) and the after party/ies continues way into the night. In Durban you are also made to feel far less aware of your social standing, (there's no Royal box and areas aren't demarcated by living class), and that's a tribute to the laid-back South African way of doing things.

And that's where I'll sign off…

Shuz